flea
/ˈfliː/ noun, verb
Also a form of flay
Forms fleas fleen fleaing fleaed flead
- noun A small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities.
- noun (derogatory) A thing of no significance.
- verb (transitive) To remove fleas from (an animal).
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English fle, from Old English flēah, flēa, from Proto-West Germanic *flauh, from Proto-Germanic *flauhaz (compare West Frisian flie, Low German Flo, Flö, Dutch vlo, German Floh, Icelandic fló), from pre-Germanic *plóukos, *plówkos, from or akin to Proto-Indo-European *plus- (compare Latin pulex, Sanskrit प्लुषि (plúṣi)).
The archaic plural fleen is from Middle English fleen, flen, from Old English flēan (“fleas”).
Alternative forms.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To flay. [Obs.]
- noun An insect belonging to the genus Pulex, of the order Aphaniptera. Fleas are destitute of wings, but have the power of leaping energetically. The bite is poisonous to most persons. The human flea (Pulex irritans), abundant in Europe, is rare in America, where the dog flea (P. canis) takes its place. See Aphaniptera, and Dog flea. See Illustration in Appendix. A flea in the ear, an unwelcome hint or unexpected reply, annoying like a flea; an irritating repulse; as, to put a flea in one's ear; to go away with a flea in one's ear. -- Beach flea, Black flea, etc. See under Beach, etc.
Etymology [See Flay.]
Etymology [OE. fle, flee, AS. fleá, fleáh; akin to D. fl, G. floh, Icel. fl, Russ. blocha; prob. from the root of E. flee. Flee.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “flea”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details